Eloy Jimenez, fighting a constant battle with aches, pains and injuries this season and throughout his career, was sidelined again Wednesday in the White Sox’ 4-3 walk-off loss at Wrigley Field.
Jimenez felt tightness in his groin in the Sox’ 5-3 win over the Cubs Tuesday while running out a tapper to Cubs pitcher Kyle Hendricks and was not in the lineup to face the Cubs Wednesday. He finished the the game Tuesday but was obviously frustrated, slamming his helmet in the dugout after grounding out to shortstop later in the game.
The ball was hit in the hole but Jimenez didn’t run hard and was easily thrown out.
“His groin got a little tight,” manager Pedro Grifol said. “So he’ll be day to day. I don’t think he’ll be available today but he’ll be day to day moving forward.”
The Sox are off Thursday and open a weekend series at the Rockies Friday.
“We’ll see what he feels like on Friday,” Grifol said.
Jimenez has played in 84 of the Sox’ 121 games this season. He was also sidelined with a strained hamstring in April, groin tightness in mid-July and with a sore heel earlier this month. He missed three weeks in May after undergoing an appendectomy.
Jimenez, batting .277/.320/.452 with 14 homers, is batting .356/.433/.780 with six homers in 19 games lifetime against the Cubs, who traded him from their farm system in 2017.
The ups and downs of closing
Gregory Santos, who needed only 16 pitches to record a five-out save against the Cubs Tuesday, wasn’t as fortunate Wednesday, serving up a three-run walk-off homer to Christopher Morel in the ninth inning.
Santos is embracing his closer’s role and doing what he can to have the job in 2023.
“I like the adrenaline. I like to pitch late in the game,” Santos said through translator Billy Russo before the game.
Santos, who turns 24 on Aug. 28, was acquired from the Giants in the offseason for pitching prospect Kade McClure with five major league games on his record. He has harnessed his 100-mph velocity and sharp slider to a 2.53 ERA with 57 strikeouts and 12 walks in 57 innings.
“I wanted that role,” Santos said. “I had a conversation with them and I told them, ‘I would like to be a closer.’ They asked me, ‘Do you have the guts to be that guy?’ I told them, ‘Yes, of course.’ ’’
Clevinger’s best start goes for naught
Mike Clevinger struck out seven, walked two and hit a batter while lowering his ERA to 3.26, the best among Sox regular starters this season. The Cubs got the first two batters on base in the first and fourth innings but Clevinger pitched out of both jams, striking out Cody Bellinger and Dansby Swanson in the first.
Andrew Benintendi singled, doubled and made a diving catch of Swanson’s sinking liner iin left field to help Bellinger escape in the fourth.
Gavin Sheets, playing mostly off the bench since right fielder Oscar Colas was brought up from Triple-A Charlotte to play every day, was playing because Jimenez was out with groin tightness. He landed a pitch from Javier Assad in the right field field bleachers in the fifth.
